Our Mission

Southern Coalition for Social Justice’s (SCSJ) Justice System Reform Program promotes social, economic, and racial justice by focusing on directly affected communities who bear the brunt of our deeply flawed and intractably racist system of mass incarceration. Informed and led by community input, we use litigation, organizing, issue advocacy campaigns, communications, and expert policy analysis in a braided approach to disrupt, dismantle, and reimagine. Our work seeks to support, protect, and empower safe and healthy communities while creating a less punitive, more accountable criminal legal system.

Our Work

Support Second Chances

SCSJ helps individuals who have experienced involvement with the criminal legal system to navigate the reentry process.

End Mass Incarceration

SCSJ seeks to reduce the number of people entering and remaining in the criminal legal system.

 

Promote Youth Justice

SCSJ supports communities of color and grassroots organizations working to end the over-criminalization of youth. 

Reframing Public Safety

SCSJ explores and interrogates policies and practices that increase public safety and center justice for all.

How We Advance Justice System Reform

Education & Resources

SCSJ is committed to empowering community members through education. We provide digital and physical educational resources that advocate for accessible expungement processes, support the  decriminalization of youth, and encourage community members to know their legal rights. 

Accountability Litigation

SCSJ holds state and local officials accountable through litigation when they abuse their authority. Representing historically marginalized individuals and communities, we initiate lawsuits against municipalities, counties, and other governmental entities to ensure that unlawful or unconstitutional practices and policies cease. 

Investing in Youth Justice

SCSJ envisions a future in which young people of color attend schools that lift them up, not pat them down. Through opportunities like Youth Justice Project, we invest in mentorship-based programs to achieve educational justice and liberation. 

Justice System Reform News

Justice System Reform

Upcoming Alamance Reentry Event Will Feature Performers, Impacted Panel Discussion

BURLINGTON, N.C. (Sept. 11, 2024) — Several organizations will come together this month to host a powerful reentry event featuring performances of stories from the Hidden Voices' project ReVisioning Rural Reentry. The stories, which highlight critical perspectives from rural communities across the state, will be followed by a candid panel discussion between three individuals who returned to Alamance County after incarceration.

Read More Upcoming Alamance Reentry Event Will Feature Performers, Impacted Panel Discussion
Reentry Reimagined cover with young queer Black family holding their toddler happily in the background
Justice System Reform

SCSJ’s ‘Safe Return’ Report Details Successes of NC Releasing People Early from Prison 

DURHAM, N.C. (Sept. 4, 2024) — During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, North Carolina safely sent thousands of people home early from prison with no negative impact to public safety, according to a new report, “Safe Return,” from Southern Coalition for Social Justice released as part of its Reframing Public Safety Series. 

Read More SCSJ’s ‘Safe Return’ Report Details Successes of NC Releasing People Early from Prison 
Safe Return: North Carolina's Experience with Bringing People Home Early form Prison report spread with cover and two spreads showing report content over blue gradient background

Justice System Reform Cases

Police walking toward a public housing building about to illegally raid someone's apartment

JUSTICE SYSTEM REFORM

Parker & Williams v. Coleman, et al.

SCSJ represented two residents of public housing in Washington, North Carolina, whose apartment was illegally raided by armed deputies who were at the wrong address.

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Woman holding a sign that says "Niecey was a child"

JUSTICE SYSTEM REFORM

Niecey Fennell

SCSJ represents the family of Uniece “Niecey” Fennell, a child who died in the Durham County Detention Facility in 2017.

 

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Floral Motif with Blue Background

JUSTICE SYSTEM REFORM

State v. James Richardson

James Richardson is an innocent man serving a life sentence for a crime he did not commit.

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Key Contacts

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